Update (2/17/07): I pretty much have given up on trying to do this. Even when I copy the library locally I can’t open it up. I think it has something to do with the fact that I am trying to open up a library that was created by my Windows PC. If anybody has any further information for me please let me know. I really did think this would have worked out fo the box….
I think I’ve encountered the first issue that I’ve had with my Mac that I haven’t been able to solve with a simple Google search. Recently, I decided that I wanted to try and access my iTunes library which is stored on my PC in the office upstairs. iTunes 7 introduced the ability to manage multiple libraries simply by holding down the option key when iTunes is launched (see screen-shot below).
In theory, this feature should allow me to load my PC’s iTunes library however, this solution isn’t working for me. When I click on “Choose Library…” and I browse to my PC’s iTunes library, I am unable to load the library. For some reason the library is grayed-out and I am not able to select it (see screen shot below).
At first I thought it was an issue with permissions however, when I browse to my iTunes folder via the Finder, I am able to create, edit and delete files so I really don’t think it has anything to do with permissions (see screen shot below). For the life of me I can’t figure this problem out. In reality it’s not that big of a deal since I can just listen to my music using the built in iTunes sharing capability however, I’d like to be able to access my library directly so that I can make changes to it. Any help would be greatly appreciated….
February 18th, 2007 at 5:18 am
I would say it’s more an issue with authority, i.e. you music isn’t authorised to use that music.
The real issue though would be filenames. Windoze uses a different filestructure than Mac and this structure isn’t compatible with the Mac.
But then why bother trying to use this library? Why change the path to the share on your Windows machine and reimport the music into iTunes on the Mac. The files do not more postion, they stay on the Windows machine but the Mac has a library that it can understand.
February 19th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I had the same problem recently. I had a windows desktop that I only used as a file server and to sync my iPod, so I decided to purchase a NAS to store my music, movies, and other media I share on my local network. I though I could do the same thing you tried, however I quickly realized that the Windows and OS X formated iTunes libraries are not created equal. My first solution was to just create a new library and keep it on my NAS that worked, but it took about a day to add all of my media to the library and then about a day to sync my iPod for the first time (I’m on a wireless network, I’m sure it would have been much quicker to use a wired network). That proved to be very slow. I then decided to just use the library I already had on my MacBook Pro and just add the files from the NAS to it, and have it not set to keep the files organized and consolidated. This has worked pretty well for me so far.
February 19th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
The only problem with this “solution” is that I would like to use one library so that my ratings, playlists etc are all contained within one library.
March 11th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Hey man, might have an answer for you.
Saw this on Digg today:
http://lifehacker.com/software/itunes/geek-to-live–how-to-move-an-itunes-library-from-a-pc-to-mac-and-back-242468.php
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I had this same problem today.
My fix was simple:
-Open iTunes while holding down the option key
-Create New Library
place the new library wherevery you want your data to live on the network
-Open up iTunes Library.xml in a text editor
-copy the entire contents
-open you NEW iTunes Library in a text editor
-paste the contents from the old .xml
-copy over the extras.itdb and genius.itdb files
relaunch iTunes. Voila. Full library restoration.